RT Oglesby earns Bielema’s praise

MADISON  Josh Oglesby navigated the most demanding stretch of Wisconsin’s preseason camp and appears set to open the season as UW’s starting right tackle.

“In my opinion he is playing as good of football he has played since he’s been here,” UW coach Bret Bielema said. “He is really playing with a little bit of an edge to him.”

Oglesby, a fifth-year senior from St. Francis High School, missed the last seven games of the 2010 season because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.

Oglesby does not appear to be fully recovered but has battled through the first two-plus weeks of camp. He was held out of five practices—all on days UW worked twice.

Oglesby, who has 15 starts at UW, might have been pushed more by redshirt freshman Rob Havenstein. However, the 6-foot-8, 345-pound Havenstein has been sidelined because of a sprained right ankle.

UW has five days of camp left. The opener is Sept. 1 against visiting Nevada-Las Vegas.

“We’ve been pretty good with his workload,” Bielema said, referring to Oglesby. “He’s handled it very well. We’re in the homestretch. All of our double days are done.”

Smart move

Before camp opened on Aug. 5, freshman Jordan Fredrick was told he would be playing wide receiver rather than linebacker.

Fredrick, from Madison Memorial High School, missed time in camp because of a sinus infection and a concussion. However, the 6-3, 220-pound Fredrick has played well enough that he might get on the field this season.

“But he’s still a freshman,” Bielema said. “He has those moments when you kind of wonder where he is, if he’s actually in Camp Randall.

“But I can’t say enough positive things about him. He’s been beyond what we thought.”

Recruiting update

When Bielema hired Thomas Hammock away from Big Ten Conference rival Minnesota in the offseason, he gave his new assistant two critical tasks:

Coach the team’s running backs and re-open recruiting doors on the East Coast, particularly in New Jersey.

Hammock has come through.

UW has received an oral commitment for its 2012 freshman class from D.J. Singleton, a touted safety from Jersey City, N.J.

Singleton, 6-2 and 200, had scholarship offers from several prominent programs. Those included Michigan, Michigan State, Nebraska, Tennessee and Miami.

UW coaches and players cannot comment publicly on a particular recruit until after that player signs a letter of intent.

However, here is an interesting comment Hammock made in the spring when asked about his new recruiting areas: New Jersey, Philadelphia and New York.

“The thing about recruiting … recruiting is recruiting,” he said. “I mean, if you can recruit, you can recruit anywhere. I never did South Florida, but I had a bunch of kids come up to Minnesota.”